More Precious Than Sapphires
by anorehc
Summary: When Sapphire's Aunt returns to foster her, Sapphire is unwilling to leave everything behind. But when Harry suddenly disappears, will she be willing to move on? Please R&R!
1. Prying on Pizza Night

"Sapphire!" cried Harry, running up to greet her from school.

"Hello, Harry. Hello, Jeff" smiled Sapphire, scooping them into her arms.

After a quick hug, Sapphire put Harry and Jeff back down and followed them into the living room. Liam and Johnny were playing on the pool table, and Liam looked up as she walked in. Carmen, Tee, Lily, Frank and Toby were crowded around the television, watching some game-show or other. Elektra was sitting on the sofa painting her nails. Sapphire could hear Gus tinkering on the piano nearby, and Mike clanging around in the kitchen, preparing supper.

"Jeff wants to do some drawing!" said Harry, sitting on the sofa opposite Elektra.

"Well Jeff knows where the crayons and paper are." replied Sapphire. She watched as Harry got up and went over to the cupboards, leaving Jeff on the table. When Harry returned she got out her homework, and set about solving the maths questions. About an hour later Tracy arrived.

"Hey guys!" she greeted. "Supper's ready!"

There was a mad frenzy to reach the dinner table as usual by the others whilst Sapphire helped Harry tidy up the crayons. Together they walked out of the living room, down the corridor, to the kitchen. There was some cheese pizza and some chicken pizza on the table. Gina was just pouring some drinks.

"Come on slow coaches!" cried Liam, smiling. Harry stuck his tongue out at Liam and went running to his chair. Sapphire sat down between Harry and Tracy. Gina placed the drinks around the table, and they all tucked into their pizza, smiling and laughing at Liam's frequent jokes. Nobody noticed the figure in black that was watching them through the kitchen window.

After supper, Sapphire helped Tee clear up the table, whilst Johnny took Harry and Jeff outside to play football.

"How was school today?" asked Sapphire, stacking the plastic cups for washing up.

"It wasn't too bad." replied Tee, "Johnny got his lunch nicked again by that Felix Crouch."

"I've told you can I help with that."

"Johnny said that it will just make it worse. Please don't do anything!" begged Tee, "He told me not to tell you."

"I won't do anything unless you want me to." promised Sapphire, wiping down the table. "Look, we've all done now. Why don't you join Carmen and Lily in the living room? Mike will do the washing up later."

Tee smiled at Sapphire and went running off to join the other two. Meanwhile Harry came running in from the garden.

"Jeff's stuck up a tree!" cried Harry, pulling Sapphire towards the door. "Save Jeff!"

"We'll need Tracy's help." said Sapphire. "Let's go and find her, yeah!" Harry and Sapphire went off to find Tracy, attracting the interest of Tee, Lily and Carmen who joined the others outside. Eventually they found Tracy in the office, and she came outside to help.

"Why am I doing this again?" asked the mysterious figure to the person on the other end of the phone.

"I told you. We need a Plan B." replied the voice. "What's going on?"

"Well the giraffe is stuck in the tree and they are beating the branch with sticks to knock it loose."

"Keep your eyes peeled, and report back here after light's out." replied the voice. Then the line went dead.

After a lot of branch bashing, Liam managed to knock Jeff loose and he fell down from the tree. Lily caught him and handed him back to Harry, who went running off inside to give Jeff a "check-up". Sapphire thanked the others and went off after Harry. Everyone went back to their football game, and the girls went inside to find Elektra for some more hair-styling tips.

When it was finally lights out Sapphire tucked Harry and Jeff into bed, drew their curtains and turned out the light. She went across to her own room, and set about finishing her maths homework. All over the Dumping Ground the lights slowly went out and slowly everyone fell asleep. The mysterious figure left across the gravel path, unnoticed.


	2. Aunt Carol

Sapphire was woken the next morning by the doorbell. It announced the arrival of Tracy and Lily. She could hear Harry and Tee running around together downstairs. She rolled over to glance at the clock. 9:02. Too early for a Saturday morning! She snuggled deeper into the covers and fell asleep again.

No sooner than had Sapphire started to dream, the doorbell rang again. She listened as the door opened, closed and footsteps went along the corridor below, to the office. She heard the office door close. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." she mumbled. Tracy walked in.

"Sapphire there's someone here to see you." said Tracy. "I think you should get up. I'll leave you to it." And with this, she left. Sapphire pulled back her covers and got washed and dressed. She met Harry and Jeff on the stairs and lifted them into a hug.

"Jeff wants to play football." said Harry, jumping onto Sapphire's back. Sapphire carried him downstairs.

"I can't play football now, Harry." she apologised. "But Lily and Tee can play."

"Jeff wants to play with you." moaned Harry. She put him down, and knelt down to his height.

"I've got someone here to see me, Jeff." she said. "But Harry is can play football with you, Lily and Tee whilst I'm busy."

"Yeah, come on Harry!" called Tee. Harry and Jeff went stomping off with Tee.

"Thank you!" mouthed Sapphire. Mike came out from the office.

"There you are, Sapphire! There's someone here to see you." Reluctantly Sapphire followed Mike into the office.

Gina was sitting at the desk, with another figure sitting opposite. The figure turned around.

"Aunt Carol?"exclaimed Sapphire.

"Goodness, Sapphire! How you've grown!" smiled Aunt Carol.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sapphire. "Where's Uncle Ed?"

"Your aunt and uncle aren't together any more." explained Gina. "Now Uncle Ed has gone social services believe it is OK for you to go back and live with Aunt Carol. Isn't that good?"

"Only if you want to, of course" added Aunt Carol, smiling.

Sapphire was dumbstruck. She'd lived with Aunt Carol and Uncle Ed for three years when she was seven, but Uncle Ed was abusive. She shivered at the memory. Aunt Carol hadn't been _that _nice either. She thought over her life here, at the Dumping Ground. She had friends, people who understood her, people who were like family to her, and most of all she had Harry.

"I'm sorry." said Sapphire, breaking the silence. "I've got too much here that I can't lose!"

Aunt Carol smiled. "I thought that'd be the case. It was worth trying. If you ever want to get away, Sapphs, Mike knows where to find me."

Mike smiled at the pair, and showed Aunt Carol out to the front door. Sapphire followed, and Aunt Carol waved as she drove off. Gina put her arm around Sapphire, but she shrugged it off. She stormed off into her bedroom, slamming the door.

Out in the garden the mysterious figure was sitting, watching. Gus was being the referee in the football match. Lily, Tee and Harry were playing against Liam, Carmen and Frank. Elektra was sitting on the tyre swing. The figure felt their phone vibrate, and lifted it to their ear:

"Yes?" the figure asked.

"We're going to need that Plan B." the voice answered. "But getting to Sapphire... That'll be harder than stealing the crown jewels."

"I think I may have a solution." replied the figure.

"Go ahead."

"Harry."


	3. Missing

"Harry?" asked the voice.

"The boy. Young, blonde hair." the figure paused. There was silence at the other end. "The kid with giraffe. He's like a brother to Sapphire." The figure explained.

"Perfect." said Aunt Carol with a smile. She closed the lid on her mobile. "I'll leave Zak to that." she said out loud.

As Liam scored his eighth goal against Tee, Gus called the match to a finish. They all went off their separate ways: Liam went off with Frank to their room, Gus went off to play the piano, Carmen and Lily went to join Elektra, leaving Tee and Harry (and Jeff) on the lawn.

"What shall we do now?" asked Tee, looking at Harry.

"Jeff wants to watch a film." Harry replied. "Jeff wants to see Royaltown Racers." Tee sighed and followed Harry up the steps, back into the kitchen. They passed Gina who was buttering some bread for lunch. She smiled at them. Tee put the film on for Harry and the two of them sat on the sofa watching. About halfway through Sapphire slipped into the room and snuggled up with Harry on the sofa.

"Lunch!" called Gina from the kitchen. The film had finished a few minutes before but Tee had only just finished putting the DVD away. Harry climbed onto Sapphire's back and they followed Tee out into the kitchen. There were some sandwiches on the table. Harry slipped down and went to sit next to Liam. Sapphire sat down next to him, Lily on her other side.

"Where's Toby?" asked Gus, sitting down opposite Lily.

"Toby's gone out to the beach with his ex-care worker, Seth." replied Gina. "Tracy's gone with them."

"When will they be back?" Gus asked.

"I'm not sure." Gus continued questioning Gina throughout lunch, and Sapphire was happy to get away. She followed Harry and the others outside where they spent the afternoon playing football and basketball. They were all exhausted when Mike called them in for tea.

Tracy and Toby were just back from the seaside and they had lots of tales to tell. They'd had fish and chips for lunch, and had spent the afternoon on the funfair rides. Toby looked like he had had a wonderful time. After their Chilli Con Carne the children were tired, and went to bed early. All except Liam and Frank who sat up playing cards. Carmen and Tee were both asleep when Cam came to pick up Lily and Tracy.

Sunday morning was a particularly sunny day, and the light shone through Sapphire's curtains at dawn, waking her up. She couldn't get back to sleep so she crept downstairs into the living room. One of the windows was ajar, causing it to be slightly chilly, so she closed it. She lay back on the sofa, watching a re-run of a soap on a catch-up channel.

At eight o'clock a car pulled up outside. Tracy had arrived for work again, so Sapphire went to let her in. Tee and Carmen appeared at the top of the stairs, and Sapphire decided to join them for breakfast. It was gone half-eight by the time they had finished breakfast, and cleared away. Toby and Johnny had joined them in the kitchen, but there was still no sign of Frank, Liam, Gus or Harry. Sapphire joined the girls outside where they were talking about the Summer Holidays. They were only a few weeks away, but it seemed like an eternity.

When Sapphire's watched beeped to mark 10 o'clock, she excused herself and went inside to find out where Harry was. Last time he'd been feeling ill after Elektra had cut of one of Jeff's legs. Neither Gina nor Mike had seen Harry all morning and said he was probably still in bed, so Sapphire went upstairs to investigate.

A wail echoed through the Dumping Ground and Tracy, as well as all the others, went racing to its source. Tracy arrived first and found Sapphire sitting on Harry's bed, sobbing. It wasn't long before the others arrived, and Gina put her arm around Sapphire's shoulders. Tracy sent the others downstairs to the kitchen for a House Meeting. Unlike the previous day, Sapphire made no attempt to shrug of Gina's arm. It was comfort and security. Tracy bent down and picked up the scrap of paper Sapphire had dropped on the floor. Scribbled in neat handwriting read:

_You'll never find him, so I wouldn't start looking. Soon he'll be in a happier place. I think you should move on. As for Jeff, I've left him as a souvenir. _

Tracy looked up at the pillow where Harry's head should have been. Sure enough the stood Jeff, well, a three legged Jeff. His fourth leg was lying on the floor, just as it had when Elektra had cut it off.


	4. Moving Out

Sorry its taken forever. It has definitely been a difficult chapter to write (and probably the worst so far) but now its finished the story can move on. Thanks for the continued support and nagging - it has really been appreciated!

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"It's been four hard weeks." concluded Mike, "but we aren't going to stop our look for Harry. There have been rumours that we are going to stop the search, but we won't cease until he is found." The children looked round at each other. Some of the worry and anger began to fade from their faces.

"House meeting over." finished Gina, collecting the cups from the table. Slowly the children left the room in groups, until it was only Sapphire remaining.

"Mike," she said. "Can I have a word?"

"What do you think has happened to Harry?" asked Carmen, twisting the beads on her bracelet.

"I don't like to think about it." replied Tee, "I don't know how I'd cope if it was Johnny."

"Do you think he's still alive?"

"Of course he is!" Tee replied, defiantly. "We've got to stay positive, otherwise Sapphire has no hope. It's been really hard on her of late. She was the closest to Harry."

"I know." said Carmen, quickly changing the subject. "Do you want a game of Twister?"

"Are you sure, Sapphire?" asked Mike.

"Definitely. I can't stay here any more – everything reminds me too much of Harry. It's not selfish on the others, is it? They've lost someone too."

"The others would do exactly what you're doing, if the tables were reversed." replied Mike, "even Liam."

"Then make the phone call." said Sapphire.

"Teatime!" called Gina. There was a mad rush, as usual, as everyone packed into the kitchen for Gina's spag. bol. Sapphire was already at the table, looking the happiest she'd done in weeks. Tee and Carmen took up their posts either side of her, whilst Lily sat at the opposite end of the table with Poppy & Rosie. They were all trying not to remind Sapphire of Harry too much.

"Sapphire has something to tell you." Gina said, to be greeted with silence by the others.

"I'm going to move out of the Dumping Ground, to live with my aunt." said Sapphire. "I don't want to leave you guys, but everything reminds me of Harry too much."

"Hang on!" protested Liam, "wasn't it because of your aunt that you're here in the first place?"

"Liam!" scorned Mike. "Sapphire has made an informed decision. It's her choice." Liam stood up from his place, clattering the table, and stormed off upstairs. Frank went to follow him, throwing an apologetic look at Sapphire. Their pasta sat in the bowls, going cold. Nobody spoke.

The next morning Aunt Carol arrived at 8am sharp. Tee, Carmen and Gus were the only ones awake to bid Sapphire a goodbye. Sapphire glanced back at the Dumping Ground as she was driven away. Liam's curtains shifted and Frank stood there, bleary eyed, waving. She waved back.

"You can have your old room back" said Aunt Carol. "If you want." She paused, waiting for a reply. "I'm sorry to hear about your friend by the way. I've been volunteering at the search twice a week. You were quite close, weren't you?"

"He was like a brother." said Sapphire, turning back to the window. They passed the traffic lights, the pizza shop, the supermarket, and finally arrived at the house. 20 Grove Drive. A place of her nightmares. She took a deep breath, and stepped out of the car.

The first thing Sapphire noticed that was wrong, was the front windowsill. Uncle Ed's collection of amethysts still littered the sill. Then she saw a fluttering of a curtain from the top floor.

"I'm- not sure." stuttered Sapphire, turning to leave.

"It's only natural." soothed Aunt Carol, putting her arm around Sapphire and guiding her up to the front door.

Aunt Carol took Sapphire into the kitchen and together they had a cooked breakfast. Deep down Sapphire knew something was wrong, but the food certainly tasted better than she was used to. She smiled Aunt Carol, who smiled back. As they ate, Sapphire's cares slowly flittered away.

They soon hit her hard though when she took her bags up to her old room. The bed was made afresh, but there were still old magazines on the bedside cabinet, and the desk was exactly how she'd left it. The sun was shining outside, so Sapphire went to open the blind. It cast a ray of sunlight across the floorboards and, as she turned, she noticed a dark figure in the doorway.

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As I said, the story can now move on. Thanks for reading!


	5. The Past

Here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy! Its not the best, but it will get better!

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When Sapphire woke she couldn't remember what had happened before, but she was lying on her bed surrounded by darkness. The sun had gone and it was night. She glanced at her clock. 06:30. She rolled onto her side, flinching at the pain. She flicked on her torch and glanced at her arm. There was a large purple bruise the size of a fist. She rolled her sleeves back down, pulled back her cover and crept over to the door. It was locked. Again. Memories of the past came flooding back, and Sapphire fell to the floor in pain. Now she remembered. Everything.

She's opened the blind and turned to see a figure. It was her Uncle Ed. He'd stormed into the room, the evil grin on his face and had beaten her. Just how it had been before. Even now Sapphire flinched with the pain as she remembered the beatings. She thought of what she'd left behind: Liam, Toby, Tee and all the others. Then she remembered her phone. Aunt Carol hadn't had a chance to take it yet. Quickly and quietly she shuffled across the floor. She was about to reach into her bag when she heard the key turn in the lock. She spun around to face her visitor. Aunt Carol.

"I heard you were up." she said, striding across to Sapphire's bed. "Couldn't sleep myself either."

"He's here." said Sapphire. "You said he'd gone."

"It's OK, petal. I know he's here, but someone's got to look after you whilst I'm out."

"I thought you didn't work any more."

"I don't. I need someone to be here whilst I make sure you're here to stay for good." Aunt Carol smiled.

"I only came here be-" Sapphire broke off.

"Because Harry went missing." finished Uncle Ed from the doorway. "He's been begging to see you, and Jeff." Tears of anger sprung to Sapphire's eyes.

"If you've hurt him in any way!" threatened Sapphire.

"He'll be fine so long as you stay. Sleep tight!" said Aunt Carol, striding back across the floor and to the door.

"And don't go looking for your phone," smiled Uncle Ed, "because I have it." With that they closed the door, and the key turned in the lock.

In Sapphire's position many people would have cried, slept or even felt down, but with a slight smile Sapphire felt into her suitcase, looking for her phone. She'd borrowed Frank's the day before when she ran out of credit and had had no chance to return it. She flicked open the lid and began writing a text.

Liam was in the middle of a boxing match with Frank on the Wii when his phone rang. Pausing the game he reached across to his beside cabinet. He tapped the screen and it burst into life. He entered the passcode and opened the message.

**here. has harry. help. hurry. saph**

"Who is it?" asked Frank.

"Just some girl." replied Liam. "Wants to meet. Don't tell Mike where I've gone, eh?"

"But..." began Frank, but Liam had grabbed his jacket and left.

Liam stole out of the room and along the corridor, careful not to wake any of the others. It was only 7am. He heard Gina busy in the kitchen as he crept down the stairs and into the office. Quickly he rifled the cabinet for Sapphire's new address. Once he had obtained it, he silently slipped out of the back door and across the garden, into the street.

"You seem cheerier!" greeted Aunt Carol, bringing Sapphire her breakfast. Sapphire didn't reply.

"Waiting for your rescue?" asked Uncle Ed, striding up to Sapphire. She looked puzzled. "Don't play the innocent with me. Hand over your phone!" Uncle Ed hit Sapphire. Reluctantly she reached the phone out of her pocket. Uncle Ed grinned.

"As for your rescue, well they're a little tied up at the moment." he grinned, closing the door once more.

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More to come soon, I promise!


	6. 20 Grove Drive

_20 Grove Drive_

Sapphire ate the cornflakes slowly, thinking over what she'd done. Uncle Ed had promised not to hurt Harry if she stayed, but she'd cried for help. And now Liam was in trouble. She winced as she leant back against her bed. She ached. What was she going to do?

Tee was the first to notice Liam was missing. She'd gone to hoover the room but had found no sign of either of the boys. After she'd finished their room she had gone to look for them, but had no clue. She found her brother, Gus and Toby playing pool, and Rosie, Poppy, Carmen and Lily playing princesses in the garden. Eventually she found Frank in the kitchen, talking to Gina and Electra. There was still no sign of Liam.

Tee was slightly worried so she went to look for Mike in the office. Mike wasn't in the office, but Tee noticed some paper lying on the top of the filing cabinet, and the third draw was still open. Hoping it contained a clue, Tee reached the paper down from the cabinet. It was details of Sapphire's new address. Unsure what to do, Tee went off to ask Electra.

Sapphire realised she must have fallen asleep as she woke up groggily.

"No good lying around." she thought to herself. "I've got to do something."

It was only then that she realised what had woken her up. She could hear a lot of yelling from downstairs. Sapphire knew that Uncle Ed would be upstairs to vent his anger soon, so she decided on a plan. As the shouting ceased, Sapphire grabbed her lamp stand and stood behind the door, waiting.

Sure enough Sapphire heard footprints coming up the stairs and the key turning in the lock. As the door creaked open Sapphire swung the lamp stand around, hitting the intruder on the head. It was only on hearing the scream, and noticing the intruder as they collapsed, that Sapphire realised what must be going on.

Quickly she calmed Tee down and helped her move Electra onto her bed.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sapphire as Tee arranged the pillows.

"We came to find Liam." replied Tee. "He left your address on the filing cabinet. We were worried."

Sapphire smiled at Tee. "Do you want to go and get some ice for Electra?"

"Where can I find it?"

"It'll be in the freezer that's kept in the cellar." replied Sapphire. "Where's Liam and Harry?"

"We never found them." said Tee, looking worried.

"We'll have a look when Electra wakes up." said Sapphire. "Go on."

Tee hurried out of the room and down the stairs. She went through the kitchen and down to the cellar. She switched on the light, turned around, and froze.

"S-S-S-Sapphire!" She called.

Sapphire came running downstairs and arrived quickly at Tee's side. She looked down into the cellar where Harry and Liam were lying, bound and gagged. They both looked a mess. Sapphire didn't stay long for soon she was at Harry's side, loosening the ropes. Tee was quickly doing the same to Liam. As soon as Harry was untied, Sapphire picked him up and turned to go up the stairs. However, she soon noticed that a tall figure was standing at the top of the stairs.

"You didn't think I'd be asleep for that long, did you?"


	7. Partying on Pizza Night

Final Chapter so ENJOY!

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_Partying on Pizza Night_

Electra looked down from the top of the stairs.

"You look like you've seen a ghost!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"I thought you were my Uncle Ed." Sapphire sighed with relief. She hugged Harry closer and carried him up the stone steps. "Could you help Tee with Liam?"

Five minutes later Mike and Johnny leapt from the car, running towards the ambulances outside 20 Grove Drive. A small crowd of neighbours were gathered and the boys ran around them. Johnny embraced Tee in his arms.

"Don't you _ever _run off like that again!" exclaimed Johnny.

Mike was talking to the policeman who was stood next to the gate. Johnny, Tee and Electra went to stand with Mike as the ambulances headed off. They climbed into the car and headed back to the Dumping Ground. Tracy was on her way to the hospital with Cam.

Four days later the living room was a hive of activity as Tracy turned up for work. Tee, Johnny, Toby and Electra were playing Scrabble, whilst Carmen, Poppy, Lily and Rosie were drawing and painting. Frank was upstairs playing on the Wii with Liam, who had returned two days before with a few cuts and bruises.

"Dinner!" called Tracy.

The usual mad rush for supper began as everyone hurried towards the kitchen. Gina had cooked pizza and chips for the children. As Mike sat down to start dinner, the doorbell rang. Tracy hurried off to answer it, and returned with Sapphire and Harry.

As the moon rose above Elmtree House a noise of laughter and music could be heard from within as the residents celebrated the safe return of their friends.

**The best thing about friends, is how they stick together: you hurt one, and you hurt them all.**

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I hope you liked it! Please review and I'll look into another TBR Fanfic! Cheers for reading!


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